Across the street, we rounded to the side of Eleventh Chocolate. I squinted in the darkness for any signs of furry white. She had gone in this direction, toward the entrance to an alleyway that ran parallel to the road. On the other side of the alley stood a three-story brick building.
"The cat's a familiar, isn't she?" I whispered even though my footsteps on the alley's gravel sounded like dueling bulldozers. "I got a witchy vibe from Forever at Perpetual Pours. Since her familiar's here, maybe Forever owns this place. Maybe she had something to do with the chocolate pond and killed Chauffeur Ethen?"
"Maybe..." Studmuffin slowed, angling his body in front of my feet. "And maybe this alleyway just got a little more crowded."
He was right. The backward-walking cat tiptoed down the all
